A fjard ( sv, fjärd, ) is a large open space of water between groups of islands or mainland in archipelagos. Fjards can be found along sea coasts, in freshwater lakes or rivers. Fjard and

fjord In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Icel ...

were originally the same word with the general meaning of sailable waterway. In

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swed ...

, fjords dominate along the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegia ...

coast while fjards dominate the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

coast.

Fjards vs. fjords vs. förden vs. rias

Although fjards and fjords are similar in that they are a glacially-formed topography, they still differ in some key ways: * Fjords are characterized by steep high relief cliffs carved by glacial activity and often have split or branching channels. * Fjards are a glacial depression or valley that has much lower relief than a fjord. Fjards fill with eroded local materials which assists "filling" along with rising sea level since the last ice age contributing as well. Other low relief landforms that are only associated with fjards such as mud flats, salt marshes, and flood plainsABPmer and HR Wallingford. 2007
Understanding and Managing Morphological Change in Estuaries
Ch. 3 of ''The Estuary-Guide: A website based overview of how to identify and predict morphological change within estuaries.'', Joint Defra/EA Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management R&D Programme. UK Department for Environment, Food, and Public Affairs. further characterize the difference between fjords and fjards. * " Förden" of the German coast and the fjords of

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

eastern

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

together form a third type of glacial inlets. They tend to occur along older 'beheaded' river channels and open into the tideless Baltic sea. *

Ria A ria (; gl, ría) is a coastal inlet formed by the partial submergence of an unglaciated river valley. It is a drowned river valley that remains open to the sea. Definitions Typically rias have a dendritic, treelike outline although they ...

s are drowned valleys, such as the

estuaries An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environmen ...

of Thames, Severn and Humber, firths of Tay and Forth.

Examples

Denmark

* Hjortsholm on the coast of

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , established ...

Republic of Ireland

Killary Harbour Killary Harbour or Killary Fjord () is a fjord or fjard on the west coast of Ireland, in northern Connemara. To its north is County Mayo and the mountains of Mweelrea and Ben Gorm; to its south is County Galway and the Maumturk Mountains. St ...

on the west coast of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

Sweden

Kanholmsfjärden Kanholmsfjärden is a major bay in the Stockholm archipelago. In October 2014, it was the location where the Swedish Armed Forces The Swedish Armed Forces ( sv, Försvarsmakten, "the Defense Force") is the government agency that forms the arm ...

in the Stockholm archipelago in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

United Kingdom

Scotland

Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations. In Canada, over 350,000 people are Cree or ...

, Kirkcudbrighshrie and Wigtownshire *

Firth of Clyde The Firth of Clyde is the mouth of the River Clyde. It is located on the west coast of Scotland and constitutes the deepest coastal waters in the British Isles (it is 164 metres deep at its deepest). The firth is sheltered from the Atlantic ...

, Dunbartonshire * Rough Firth, Kirkcudbrightshire *

Water of Fleet The Water of Fleet is a river in Scotland flowing into Fleet Bay on the Solway Firth. Its two tributaries are the Big Water of Fleet, which begins around Loch Grannoch, and the Little Water of Fleet. The river flows through Gatehouse of Fleet b ...

, Kirkcudbrightshire

Wales

* Alaw Estuary, Anglesey * Pwllheli Harbour, Caernarfonshire

United States

Somes Sound Somes Sound is a fjard, a body of water running deep into Mount Desert Island, the main site of Acadia National Park in Maine, United States. Its deepest point is approximately , and it is over deep in several places. The sound almost splits the ...

Acadia National Park Acadia National Park is an American national park located along the mid-section of the Maine coast, southwest of Bar Harbor. The park preserves about half of Mount Desert Island, part of the Isle au Haut, the tip of the Schoodic Peninsula, an ...

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

.Bird, E.C.F., 2008, ''Coastal Geomorphology: An Introduction'', 2nd ed. John Wiley and Sons Ltd. West Sussex, England. Jackson, J.A., 1997, ''Glossary of Geology''. American Geological Institute. Alexandria, Virginia. Goudie, A., 2004, ''Encyclopedia of Geomorphology''. Routledge. London, England.

References

{{coastal geography Coastal and oceanic landforms Glacial landforms